Allocation for education dips

Education ministries got a chop for the next fiscal year as the proposed development allocation for them is lower than the allocation of the outgoing fiscal year.

Moreover, the overall proposed allocation for the two education ministries also decreased. The proposed allocation for the sector for FY2023-24 has also been reduced in terms of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday proposed to allocate only 1.76 percent of the GDP for the education sector, which is less than a third of the Unesco recommendation.

Unesco recommends the education sector should have a 6 percent allocation of the total GDP.

In the outgoing fiscal, the education sector had an allocation of 1.83 percent of GDP.

The proposed development budget for FY2023-24 for the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and the Ministry of Education, which includes the Secondary and Higher Education Division, and Technical and Madrasa Education Division, stood at 11 percent of the total annual development programme (ADP).

It is 0.47 percentage points less than the ADP allocation in the outgoing fiscal year.

For the upcoming fiscal year, the proposed allocation is Tk 28,927 crore for the development budget of the education sector. The total ADP size is Tk 2,63,000 crore.

Of the total ADP, Tk 12,018 crore or 4.57 percent is for the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Tk 14,085 crore or 5.36 percent for the Secondary and Higher Education Division, and Tk 2,823 crore or 1.07 percent for the Technical and Madrasa Education Division.

In the outgoing budget, a total of Tk 28,200 crore was allocated to the development budget for the education ministries.

Meanwhile, the overall proposed budget for Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and the Ministry of Education for FY2023-24 stood at Tk 88,162 crore, which is 11.57 percent of the total budget.

In the outgoing fiscal, the government allocated Tk 81,449 crore, 12 percent of the total budget.

The finance minister proposed to allocate Tk 34,722 crore for the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Tk 42,838 crore for the Secondary and Higher Education Division, and Tk 10,602 crore for the Technical and Madrasa Education Division.

In the outgoing fiscal, the government allocated Tk 31,761 crore for the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Tk 39,961 crore for the Secondary and Higher Education Division, and Tk 9,727 crore for the Technical and Madrasa Education Division.